


who has time for romance with SCHOOL

by i_believe_in_well_written_mary_sues



Series: soulmates aint always romantic, but romantic aint a bad thing [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aromantic, Asexuality, Bisexual Oikawa Tooru, F/M, Female Friendship, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Healthy Relationships, Lotsa AUs, Male-Female Friendship, Non-Chronological, Non-Linear Narrative, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Romance, Platonic Soulmates, Soul Bond, Telepathy, aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, elements of a/b/o, its Wednesday my dudes, straight as a ruler iwaizumi, worm off a string what crimes will they commit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-04
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:34:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22554901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_believe_in_well_written_mary_sues/pseuds/i_believe_in_well_written_mary_sues
Summary: outtakes, shenanigans, and a severe lack of plot
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Oikawa Tooru & Original Female Character(s), Oikawa Tooru/Original Character(s), Oikawa Tooru/Original Female Character(s)
Series: soulmates aint always romantic, but romantic aint a bad thing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1622767
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ok im losing motivation for the actual story but i have a lot of stuff written. It's not gonna be chronological, and it might not even all be in the same universe, but whatever.

He finds her with his headphones in, skimming through the Wikipedia page on the Beatles.

“New friend group?” he asks, flopping on his bed. He doesn't ask how she got in, or why his parents didn't think to warn him that she was here.

She starts. “Oh. No- just a new dude. I thought I’d give coming-of-age shit a try.”

He makes a face. “You read way too much John Green.”

“Jerry Spinelli, actually,” she says. “Don’t worry. I’ll dump him in two months or so, when I get bored and he'll leave again.”

“Oh, the transfer student,” Tooru realizes. “He’s cute.”

“And a sex god, according to my contacts from Kyoto.”

“Contacts,” he teases. “You mean your girl group gossip.”

“And?”

“Word is that his dick’s enormous. Good choice. Don’t do drugs.”

“I have  _ standards _ ,” she sniffs. “He doesn’t have enough emotional pain to turn to drug use anyways. Honestly, I think I’m bored already. Being a manic pixie dream girl is _exhausting_.”

“I can imagine,” he says. “Shame. Angst is  _ so _ in season.”

“Not with the grownups,” she sighs. “And we  _ do _ need those rec letters right around now, huh?”

“Yep,” he says. “And here I was, almost scoring a date with the cute cheer transfer, too.”

“Ria?” Riku says. “Mmm. Femme fatale. Didn’t think you were into the hard domme thing.”

“I’m not,” he says. “But we were looking for opposites, yeah?”

Riku blinks. “I guess we were,” she says. “Ugh. Rec letters.”

“Rec letters,” he agrees, saluting. “Ruining our otherwise totally interesting lives.”

“Well,” she sighs. “That clears up my schedule so I can get some business contacts.”

He squints. “I thought you weren’t interested in business and politics?”

“But you are.”

Something in his heart melts. “I am,” he agrees, glad that she can’t see his silly smile. “I’ll send you a list. Be witty. They’re eccentric old money- they like people like you.”

“You’re eccentric old money.”

“And I absolutely adore you.”

“Love you too,” she says, spinning her chair around to look at him, taking everything in. “Messy hair suits you.”

He grins crookedly, eyes flickering over her pajamas. “We are way too well adjusted to be teenagers.”

“Probably,” she agrees.

-

“We should fake date,” Tooru says, tapping at his laptop.

Riku squints. “We are fake dating,” she points out. 

“No, like… So I was looking through my old middle school yearbook-”

“Ew,” Riku says, nose wrinkling.

“-and there was this section on favorite romantic tropes. The most popular was fake dating.”

“Oh my god.”

“Yuna could start a betting pool.”

“Oh my god,” Riku repeats.

“So that’s a yes?”

“We’re gonna fake our romantic feelings while we’re faking our romantic feelings.”

“Yup!”

“Zoomie’s gonna have an aneurism,” she says gleefully. “Let’s do it.”

-

"... I plead the third?"

"This is Japan," Tooru says flatly, before he squints. "You refuse to quarter troops in times of peace?"

"Look, I never said I was smart," Riku says. "Also yes. If any troops try to stay in my house, they'll be in for a _fun_ _time_."

"That sounds extremely like you want to quarter troops," Tooru says. "Which is concerning. Please don't prank the army."

"I would _never_ prank the army," she says emphatically.

"You're crossing your fingers."

"It's a free country. I'm allowed to cross my fingers."

"Technically it's a constitutional monarchy." He tilts his head to the side. "Are you trying to drop hints that you want to move to America? Is that what this is?"

"And face that shitty healthcare?" Riku says, scrunching her nose. "Fuck no. If I ever wanted to move somewhere, _you'd know_."

"Nice," he says. "Thank god you're not being passive aggressive."

"We're teenagers," she deadpans. "I think we have a while before _anybody_ passive-aggressively suggests moving anywhere. Also? If I ever start pulling shit like that? Punch me. In the face."

"Can do!" Tooru chirps, pulling his fist back. "Hey, no, Riku, _stay still_."

-

Takeru blinks at them. "... nope," he says, wheeling back out. "I'll be in my room. Have fun."

"Aww, we scarred him," Tooru cheers, running a hand through her hair. 

"Did we just make your nephew think we were having sex?" Riku asks the room at large. "We're not _that_ bad."

"I think it's the repression and societal norms that are getting him," he muses, sighing dramatically. "What a shame."

"I can hear you guys," Takeru says. "And yes. You are that bad."  


Riku blinks down at their tangle of limbs. "... we're literally not. I'm scared, what do you think cuddling normally looks like?"

"You're _too_ comfortable with each other," Takeru says, still from the other room. "Like an old married couple. Blech."

"That's fair," Tooru laughs, wiggling up so they aren't quite as squished together. "Come back in here, we're decent."

"You're never decent," Takeru deadpans, but creeps back inside anyways. 

-

"You can't put off meeting with my fanclub _forever_."

"I totally can. You know what they're saying? They're scheming up plots on how to get us together, because you deserve a _perfect soulmate_ or whatever."

"Oh dear," Tooru says mildly. "I think we can get GSA to crash a meeting and give them a talk."

"I'm not going to talk to that bunch of biphobic fakes," Riku says, huffing out a breath.

"As the actual bisexual here," Tooru drawls, amused. _"I'm_ not going to talk to that bunch of biphobic fakes."

"You really think a bunch of idiots who think that bi people are transphobic can give a convincing talk about platonic relationships? Fuck, the health unit from freshman year described platonic as " _non-romantic relations between two people of the opposite sex"."_

"Okay, valid point," he winces, considering. "Time for a undercover social movement?"

"Time for a social movement!" she cheers, brightening. "Man, highschool is fun."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> start of the abo u. It's slightly more explicit, but not very. Don't expect smut, because you're not gonna get it.

It’s a normal day. That’s what she remembers, thinking back. The most damning thing. It’s _calm._

It's a normal day when their lives are fucking _ruined_ , if she's being angsty. Changed, if she's being dramatic. (It's a normal day when they discover that _hey, sexual feelings exist. Surprise?_.)

It starts when she notices his eyes, which isn’t as embarrassing as it sounds because they’re having a staring contest. But then she feels his face soften, her eyes wandering over his hands. And then his thumb is tracing over her lips, and he’s nudging his way in between her knees, and it's... hazy.

His eyes are wide, and she feels something primal in her chest as they reach for each other.

“Mine,” he says, fierce and savage, and she doesn’t think twice.

“Yours,” she agrees, gasping around the word. She inhales into his shoulder, smells matcha and mint, and _whines._ His nose is pressed against the scent gland on her neck, and she keens, soft and high. It’s messy and _hot_ , and she knows why the word _heat_ is slung around in filthy curses, because she’s _burning_ , and he always runs warmer than her, and when she leans into his chest she feels like she’s going to combust. She doesn’t know what she’s doing, vision blurring around _mine, Tooru, mine_. She feels his lips brush behind her ear, trailing hot kisses along her collarbone to the junction between her neck and shoulder, and she squirms in her seat.

His canines _flash_ out, brushing against her skin, a possessive growl rumbling from his throat, and like a spray of cold water, they stop. His hands are clutched around her waist and buried in her hair. Her legs are wrapped around his hips, her hands are gripping his shirt. Her neck is bared towards him, and his mouth is inches away from her scent gland.

They're in the gym. They're in the gym, with fluorescent lights and vaulted ceilings and varnished floors.

_How close were we to soul mating?_ she thinks, halfway hysterical. _His canines have already shown, shit, he was almost as my neck, we were going to-_

“ _Shit,_ ” he hisses, launching himself backwards, hands white knuckled, clenching onto the bleachers. “Tell me no, Riku.”

She’s frozen for half a second, because _shit, I didn’t think we’d present, fuck we’re in_ school _, fuck, don’t soulmates usually present after extreme stress-_

He snarls again, eyes crazed, feral. “ _Riku._ Tell me _no._ ”

_Shit, that’s hot,_ she thinks, absurdly, and by his blown pupils, she knows that he can hear it. _Fucking soulmates and fucking heat._

_Fucking,_ she hears his thoughts _. Ha._

And then, because they are not going to be some dumbass couple rutting in the gym, she says, “ _No,_ Tooru.”

Even though he told her to, he can’t hide the hurt that flashes in his eyes. His canines stay white and gleaming and _big_ , even as he steps back, and she can feel the heat thrumming through her veins.

_Gods,_ she thinks, wild. _I want him_.

He sucks in a breath, hands flexing against the bench. _Stop that,_ she hears.

And then she feels the stares, because they’re in the middle of the _gym_ , and there’s _people_ here. None of them move.

“What are you _doing_ ?” she snaps, looking around for somebody on the track team. She finds Rea- _thank god, she’s the fastest person in the school_ . She stares her down. “Go find a teacher. Or the nurse. _Go!”_

The tension breaks, and Rea races out. People bustle out of the gym, any laggers scared away by Tooru’s stare and sharp canines. _I want him to bite me._

He groans, a low sound that sends shudders racing up her spine. _We can’t fucking soul mate in the middle of the school shut_ up.

So she does, staring up at the ceiling, counting back from a hundred. _Eighty, seventy nine, seventy eight-_ and she feels Tooru’s eyes on her. _Seventysixseventyfiveseventythree- shit, no, seventy five- no, four_

_I know every place that she’s ticklish,_ she hears, and she feels a ghost of his hands creep along her sides. _Seventy, sixty nine._

In the back of her mind, he echoes _sixty nine_ and she shoots him a glare _. Oh no he’s pretty stop looking at him Riku._

His eyes snap to her with every waft that her scent glands produce, and she hears his hands scrabbling to hold himself in place.

_Please_ , she thinks, almost delirious, looking straight at where she knows the gym camera is. 

She feels a throbbing between her thighs, and sees him tonguing uncomfortably at his canines. A whimper breaks out of her throat, and she crosses her legs. His gaze flashes to her, dropping before immediately looking up again.

_Shit I’m so sorry Riku sorry I wanna-_

The gym doors flood open- _Like our first meeting_ , she thinks, and she sees him swallow a laugh. _The nurse, the principle, and the gym teacher. Great. But why the fuck is the ceramics teacher here neither of us even takes ceramics._

They visibly relax at seeing them across the gym from each other, even more comforted by the fact that their hands are out of their pants and that there’s no fluid coating the floor.

And then the ceramics teacher sets a comforting hand on her arm, drawing her towards the door.

" _No!_ ” go the voices of the other teachers and approximately the entirety of the student body who are watching from a safe distance. But over it all, she feels Tooru’s _rage,_ and she wrenches out of the grip on her shoulder.

“ _Riku!”_

She senses more than sees him lashing out at the gym teacher, catching him square across the stomach. And then arms restrain her and she’s dragged out of the gym, Tooru close behind.

They look at each other, panting, held tightly back and _apart_.

“Well,” she says, not caring about the countless eyes, judging, always judging. She smiles, wobbly, just trying not to cry. “At least we know who the top is.”

They’re set up in the cots in the gym locker rooms. She's out as soon as she goes horizontal.

-

“Tooru,” she says as soon as she wakes up, which is five minutes later. The girls talking around her jump. 

“Riku,” the principle says casually. “You woke up earlier than we expected.” - _obviously, the normal sleep time after heat is two days, but I guess we didn’t have a real heat, huh-_ The principle grimaces apologetically, gesturing at the girls hanging around the locker room. “Otherwise we would’ve sent everyone out already.”

“Keep them here, please?” she says, making wide doe eyes. _Damage control time._ “I’d like people to talk to.”

The principle eyes her, then nods. “We will be informing your parents, of course.”

“Of course,” she echoes, a small smile on her face. _Okay. They have work today. As long as his parents don’t get in touch, I’ll be okay._ And then she lets her smile flicker. “Do I need to go to the hospital or anything?”

“No,” the principle responds, eyes darting to the girls pretending not to listen. “But please meet in my office to talk about it when you feel ready. Perhaps by five o’clock?”

She checks her phone, sending off a quick text to her parents- _Staying at school-_ and nods. “Thank you,” she says sweetly.

The principle nods at her, then leaves.

The silence is broken immediately by a freshman. “You were saying Oikawa’s name in your sleep.”

The other girls turn their glares on the freshman, and she shrinks back.

Riku smiles. “I guess I was,” she says sheepishly. “It wasn’t anything embarrassing, was it?” She knows it wasn’t, and by the looks on the girls’ faces, she’s right.

“No,” a senior assures her. “You, um. You sounded a little. Sad?”

She blinks. And exhales. “Yeah,” she admits. “I didn’t really want it to happen like that.”

She sees sympathy, and, well. _We can’t have the perfect relationship all the time, maybe this was good._

“I’m so sorry,” they comfort her. “In the gym, too!”

“You guys did a really good job, though,” a junior says admiringly. “He has his canines out and everything, and you guys didn’t touch at all.”

She winces, still smiling. “Well, we already terrorized the poor freshmen enough before his canines grew. Plus, we were pretty distracted by the telepathy.”

She feels the interest pique in the room, _and there it is._

“Tell us about the telepathy,” a voice pipes up from the back of the room, and she grins before they can be reprimanded for prying. 

“Well,” she says, thinking about what the fuck she can say that isn’t completely explicit, reaching towards Tooru without thinking it. His voice in the back of her mind says _what?_ and she slams down her barriers. She has to suppress a jump, because _holy shit they still have their telepathy_.

She decides to ignore it and lie, because that’s what she’s good at. “It was nice, you know? Just being able to relax and know each other.” _Too much mushy stuff. Switch tacks._ She shakes herself off, like she shared more than she intended, and continues.

“Tooru was really sweet. He looked at my boobs for half a second, and he literally turned _soo_ red. And he felt really guilty about jumping me ‘without permission’-”

“He totally had your permission, though,” a voice heckles, and they all giggle. 

“And those _fangs!_ ” someone says. _Asuka- a cheerleader? Or on the freshman stunt team._ “Girl, you lucked out.”

She flushes a deep red. “No fucking comment, Asuka.”

Titters rise and fall through the crowd. A girl in the front hesitates for half a second, before asking quietly, “Will you guys be able to have another heat?”

The room falls silent, staring at her. She shrugs. “I don’t know. Maybe? I think.. I think that’s one of the things we’re gonna talk about.” She puts on a brave smile. “Honestly, it was great, but also a little scary? I wouldn’t mind having it again or not having it again. It’s just different.”

She lets them see the truth in her eyes, because it _is_ true.

“Want a hug?” some seniors coo, and at her nod, she’s buried under a group hug. She lets herself relax and socialise for the sake of socialising until a quarter to five. Then she stands up on wobbly knees, checks her phone, and walks to the admin building.

Her phone starts ringing as soon as she’s out of the locker room. _Tooru,_ she thinks with a rush of relief, and picks up.

“Hey Riku,” he says. “Are you okay? I’m. I’m really sorry about all that- the canines were out of line-”

“Relax, Tooru,” she says, letting him see her face. “Don’t you dare fucking let this ruin our relationship, remember?”

He nods, jerkily, and she rolls her eyes.

“I was just as horny as you were,” she says. “It’s not your fault, idiot. You were the responsible one and reminded me to say ‘no’.”

He chokes a little, laughing, and she can see the redness of his gums above his back-to-normal canines.

“Hey,” he says, frowning at her a little. “The guilt thing applies to you too. My teeth are fine, and yes, I know that they’re fucking hot.”

“In your dreams, Tooru,” she says. It’s ineffective because he’s _seen inside her mind_.

He smirks, giving her the full force of his grin, taking care to flash his canines.

She hangs up.

And then he calls from their **_Heist!!!!! babey_ ** group chat, and the screen is split as Iwaizumi picks up too.

“What have you gotten into now,” he sighs at them. “Are you guys alright?”

They nod, and Iwaizumi relaxes. “So inside the gym, huh? Exhibitionist kink much?”

She hangs up again.

“Hey Orbee,” Tooru says, standing several feet away from her. She doesn’t feel anything out of ordinary, so she crosses the space for a hug. It’s warm and comforting, floating with matcha and only a little residual mint.

“So the mint was just your heat scent,” she observes, nestling into his arms. “Weird.”

He scowls and knocks her head with his chin. “Oh yeah? Guess what yours is. _Vanilla_.”

“No,” she groans. “Ew, really? Ugh, I am so fucking basic.”

He laughs, rumbly, and opens the door.

“After you, soulmate,” he says, ridiculous as ever, and something in her chest _glows_.

_We can talk about telepathy later, right?_ she hears, and she squeezes his hand. 

_Yes._

They face the principle together.

And the school nurse, because he’s there too.

And the onsite police officer, who glares them down, and she feels herself instinctively shrink back.

_Shit, what’s_ wrong _with me that’s Officer Tanaka I_ know _him._ And then she has to slam waves of relaxation at Tooru, because shit, if _she_ doesn’t like him, she knows Tooru will be worse.

“Sit down, please,” the principle says, calm. “Oikawa, Kobayashi, how are you doing?”

_You first_ , she thinks, and he says, “I’m doing.. okay. Sorry for the inconvenience we caused.”

She nods in agreement, and remembers the gym teacher. “Is Coach Irihata okay?”

Guilt that’s not hers flashes through her mind, and she grips his hand.

The nurse smiles sympathetically. “He’s perfectly fine, just whining in the infirmary. Don’t worry about him.”

Tooru looks grateful. “Thank you.”

“And tell him that we’re sorry,” she tacks on.

Nobody mentions the ceramics teacher.

“Well,” the nurse says. “You both are juniors, right? So you’ve taken Health. Do you remember what you learned?”

_Oh no,_ she thinks, amused. _Knew it. Fifty bucks we’ll get an awkward sex talk._

_Fifty bucks we can talk ourselves out of it_ , Tooru counters. She doesn’t take it, because she’s not stupid. Good thing too, because they get out four minutes later, possibly with the principle liking them _more_ than before this whole debacle.

They hesitate at the gates of school. “Want me to walk you back?” he asks, hands flexing in his pockets.

_Do you want to?_

_Yes._

“Of course you can walk me back,” she says, looping her arms in his. “It’s literally five o’clock. Let’s get ice cream!”

_Ice cream,_ he agrees, saying, “Awwwwww, why not milk buns instead? The bakery’s closer!”

And so they walk off, bickering and laughing.

When they reach her house, he stops on the street, shuffling his feet a little. “Well,” he says, cracking a smile. “G’night.”

They hug, and she walks into the house, contentment curling in her chest. _We’re gonna be okay,_ she thinks, and hears his agreement.

_We’re gonna be the best._

_-_

It doesn't hit her, not quite. Not until she's in the shower, washing the _mint-vanilla-matcha_ off her skin in favor of a mango-pineapple-passionfruit bath bomb.

Look, she deserves it, okay?

But as soon as the mint is overwhelmed by the bath bomb, she-

_Tooru? Where is Tooru where is her_ soulmate, _why is she not with him, why is this fruity shit on her, this is not Tooru, this is not her soulmate, w h e r e-?_

Tooru's presence slams against her mind, burrito-ing her panic as they cling to each other. It's pure panic and stress and comfort and _relief_ , because they're _right there_ , they have each other. She sobs, breaths catching wetly in her chest as bathwater clings to her hair and skin ( _ ~~the bathwater that took Tooru from her~~_ ).

She begins to giggle, still sitting in the bathtub like a child, pink and gold glitter moving against the jutting skin of her limbs.

_Did I just get separation anxiety because I can't smell you anymore_? she laughs incredulously, swirling patterns in the gold with her finger. _Is that supposed to happen_?

_We're gonna have to go through that again once I shower,_ Tooru says instead of answering. _Wait, d'you think we can avoid it if, like, I just keep huffing vanilla extract?_

_Vanilla extract has alcohol in it, so huffing is a little too accurate,_ Riku muses, lifting her wrist up to her nose. Mint. Matcha. She lets out a sigh of relief and mentally waves Tooru away. She's fine.

Tears begin to stream down her cheeks as she wrangles herself out of the bath. He nudges again at her mind before withdrawing. That's good. She needs the alone time.

She lets herself cry for approximately twelve minutes ( _that's how long she spent crying when she broke her leg, and fuck if she's gonna cry because of a heat with her soulmate-_ she has a soulmate she should be grateful she has a soulmate.)

And then she sits up, washes her face, and inspects her eyes. Perfect.

_Thank god I'm a pretty crier_ , she thinks, and shuts down Tooru’s immediate flirting. _Don’t you dare say anything._

She takes a breath, and freezes.

Mint and vanilla. She opens the windows, but. The second her parents step in the house, they’re going to  _ know.  _ It's ridiculous that she ever _stopped_ smelling it, because it _fills_ the house, even though she took a bath and soaked her school clothes in the wash.

_ Shit. _

_ Want me to come over?  _ Tooru asks softly, and she hesitates.

_ No. I think it’s better if I do it on my own.  _ A pause _. If  _ I  _ can smell it it’s doubly strong for you, right? How are your parents reacting? _

She feels his grimace.  _ They’re. Better than expected. The school sent a confirmation saying we didn’t do anything, and they trust me, so there’s that. And they absolutely adore you. _

_ Of course they do _ , she says, settling back into their routine.  _ And my parents like you, so we should be fine. _

She feels him drumming his fingers on his desk, humming a little, and he thinks,  _ I have a game tomorrow.  _

_ Shoot,  _ she grimaces.  _ I think telepathy only goes away after you fuck, right?  _

She feels him shut his barriers, and she grins, pulling out her laptop.

Thank god for internet. 

Her parents come home before Tooru talks to her again, so she heads downstairs, Tooru in the back of her mind, watching.

“I have a soulmate,” she begins as soon as they step through the door.

Her parents very politely don’t mention the soulmate-scent that clings to her skin. They stare at her expectantly, though so she says.

“It’s Oikawa. Tooru.”

They exchange glances, and her mom nods, slowly. “Okay.”

_ Shit,  _ she thinks, but covers it up. “The school sent an email. Um. We didn’t. Do anything.”

At this, her parents nod. “We know,” her dad says, and  _ wow, they just straight up called me a virgin, okay _ .

_ True, though. _

_ Shut up. _

“I’m still gonna be friends with him, though,” she says, not determined, exactly, but more firm than she’s been since... toddlerhood, maybe? “He’s smart. He’s the person who got the perfect score on the last math test, remember?”

_ Just using me for my grades, I see. _

_ Of course,  _ she reassures him.  _ That, and your money. _

_ You called me smart _ , he sings.  _ You loooove me. _

_ I love Zoomie more. _

_ Uh huh- _

Her dad speaks up, insistent. “You need to go see a doctor. We don’t know what adverse effects there are to presenting without forming a full bond.”

His face twists imperceptibly as he says the words, masking his awkwardness. It would be hilarious if it  _ wasn’t about her _ .

But. He’s right, so she says, “Okay. I’ll talk to the school nurse."

“A real doctor,” he says, frowning. “A soulmate specialist.”

She gives in. “Okay,” she says again. “Over the weekend.”

Her parents settle down, obviously trusting her, and she’s grateful, until-

“Invite him over for dinner,” her mom tells her, and, well, it could’ve been much worse.

_ ‘Course I’ll come over,  _ Tooru says _. Also my parents want you to come over too. Next Saturday? _

_ It’s. Friday today, right?  _

_ Yup. _

“Okay,” she says. “His family invited me over for dinner next Saturday. Can I go?”

She can see her dad itching to just make it a group meal, but her mom cuts in before he can. “Of course,” her mom says, draining a glass of water. “Remember to bring a gift.”

_ No gift,  _ Tooru tells her.  _ They’ll think that you’re sucking up. They know you- it’s gonna be casual. _

“I’ll remember,” she tells her mom, and escapes upstairs.

And then stifles a laugh, because Tooru did straight up  _ research _ about soulmates, and none of it was porn.

_ It does only go away after you have sex, _ he confirms, carefully ignoring her.

_ Do I need to get a bite? _

She feels his discomfort and guilt.  _ It depends. It’s about fifty-fifty. _

She still knows his worry about his game is in the back of his mind, so she suggests,  _ I can meditate when you play _ .  _ Tell me when you’re not, though, so I can do my homework. _

His relief comes in a rush, but he still says,  _ Are you sure? It’s gonna be long. How much homework do you have? _

_ Not a lot. And I read really fast. Stop worrying- just play your game. Also, you better do the same thing with me during my debate tournament this Sunday. _

_ Sunday.  _ He flips through his mental calendar. She sees him cancel on a lunch date with his nerd friends.  _ I can take time off Sunday. _

She probes his mind a little more, making sure that he’s really alright with it before saying,  _ Thanks. _

_ Anything for you, soulmate,  _ she hears, and she rolls her eyes.

_ We both need to be good for our tournaments, so the talk needs to happen after,  _ she says.

_ How long is your tournament. _

_ Until four.  _

_ Sunday, then. See you. _


End file.
